Railway-rail support



A 1,615,327 Jan' 25 1927" H. ETHERIDGE RILWAY RAIL SUPPORT Filed June l2 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1L` INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY' 1927. v Jan 25 H. ETHERIDGE rRAILWAY RAL SUPPORT Filed June 12 f 1925 INVENToR. IMJ.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY M QW ATTORNEY' Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

U N IIT.- EDt STATES RAILWAY-RAIL' SUPPORT.'

Application filed June 12,1925.' Serial 1\To.w36;619.=`

One featurey of `my invention relates to theclass of rail supports which carry but one of the parallel track rails but do not span the-track asdo cross-ties.` y

Where suc-h rail supports as now constructed uare employed, thertendency is for passing traffic to tip the supportinwardly toward the axis of the track andfthus impart a lateral rolling action to the support, which in time loosens it in the ballast or road'bed so that the -rail is no longer firmly supported.

To overcome this difficulty I have invented a new andl limproved rail-support which has a more'extended bearing:surface on the inner side.. of 'the rail `than on the outer side, the insidebearing-surface'being extended towards theaxis ofthe track su'liiciently to ,overcome the tendency to tip lor roll.

The preferred.embodiment ofA my invention, shown herein, is a substantial =T -shaped support,.horizontally disposed, and the head of the T supportingthe 'rail from beneath while the stem of the T extends inwardly towards theaxis of the track; and theupper surface of the stem being preferably depressed so that `the stem .isembedded .in the ballast.

My-improvedrail ysupport :is preferably formed of concrete or similar material, having embedded therein metallic reinforcement, and I have provided a new and improved character of such reinforcement. Y

Another feature of 'my invention is-the provision of new and improved means of fastening` the rail to a rail-support, and I provide internally threadedv sleeves'lwhich are embedded in the material of the support, with their, upper ends exposed, andwhich are welded or otherwise attached to the internal-reinforcement of the rail support.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I illustrate a practical embodimentof my invention, Fig. l is a plan view--showing a rail mounted on one of my supports; Fig.2 is a plan view of the support with the rail removed and the reinforcement being shown in dotted line; Fig. 3 is an end view of the support, the material being partially broken away to lshow t-he reinforcement; Fig. l is a plan view of t-he reinforcement before it is embedded in the material of the support; Fig. 5 is a front view of the same; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of the portion of the reinforcement showing the method of anchoring` the rail fastening meansfthereto; Fig. is a planview-of the same; Fig. Seis a. view similar tof Fig l :showing-the .form of my improved support Aused 'un'derwarail joint, and Figy9 vis a` view-showing the arrangement of the rail supports for the parallelfrails of a railwaytrack.

Referring:first tov Figs; l Vto 7 inclusive, A represents the .rail-support, and B Athe rail carried thereby. It will vbe'noted that a more extended bearing surface on the road bed is provide-dl for the support on one vside of fthe rail than on thelother, and 4the more extended. bearing surface ispositioned on the inner side: of the rail, or toward the axis of the railway track.

Thus, inthe preferred form of my railsupport,.which is shown inthe drawings, the same is-substantially T-shaped, thearm 1 supporting the Arail from beneathwand: extending parallel therewitlnzwhile the stemQ, of narrower width than'the length of the arm l, extends inwardlytowards the axisof the track.' Thearm and stemivof lthe-Tware preferably integral =andfformed of concrete which is suitably reinforced, aswillvhere.- after be explained.

The arm l `of the support is ofrvsuliieient thickness to hold the-railat the yproper elevation and is preferably provided`- with a longitudinally disposed and sunkenrecess 3 in which is stepped a resilientmat t, such as of frubber vorother resilient=or compressible'material, uponwhieh the railrests, and which., will at all times .support the-rail out of contact `with the support A. The ste/m2 of the support has vits top surface at lower level than the top surface of the arm 1, as shown in Fig. 3, so that it may be embedded in the ballast, which latter is preferably continuedover Ithe top of the stem In Fig. l I show the character ofiieinforcement which-I `prefer to use. The same consists ofthe substantialoblong frame 5 formed of fiat metal barplaced onlthefedge', and sof proper dimension to be embedded in the material offthatportion of thesupport which forms the arm l, as shown in Fig. 2. The stem 2 is reinforced by means of a nose frame 6 formed by bending up a strip of similar material into proper shape to reinforce the stem of the support, as shown in Fig. 2, the rear ends of the bar being curved outwardly and welded or riveted to the frame vas at 7. I also prefer to employ transverse members which brace the frame and better anchor it in the material of the support. Thus 8 and 9 are bars, preferably round bars, laid on the top of the frame with their ends welded as at 10, while 11 and 12 are similar bars, but laid in opposite direction with their ends welded to the under edge of the frame.

13 are internally threaded metal sleeves which are welded in vertically disposed positions to the end members of the frame 5 and have their lower ends preferably closed by the screw plugs 14. These sleeves are so disposed that their upper ends are exposed at the top of the stem 2 of the support at either side ot the sunken seat 3 and near the opposite ends of the same. Thus the sleeves receive the screw bolts yor other fastening means which are employed to attach the rail to the support, such fastening` means not being shown.

It will be noted that the frame 6 is preferably tilted downwardly and toward the axis of the track so that its upper surface will not approach too near the upper surface of the stem 2.

In Fig. 8 I show the support A which differs only from the support A, Fig. 1, in that the arm 1 of the former is extended, thus providing a longer bearing surface, so that it may support the joint between the two abutting rails B and B2. Thus A is intended for a rail-joint support.

The rails are supported at proper intervals by the supports A, and at the joints be tween abutting rails by the supports A', the stem 2 of said supports extending inwardly towards the axis of the track but being preferably entirely unconnected with the supports of the parallel rail.

The top edge of the arm 1 of the support is preferably beveled as shown at 15 so that the ballast may be packed about the support and substantially to the top surface of the saine, thereby improving the anchorage of the support in the ballast. Likewise the top, front and side edges of the stem 2 are similarly beveled, thereby obtaining a better anchorage in the ballast.

The corners between the stem 2 and arm 1 are rounded by the provision of the fillets 16, thus adding strength.

By the use of my improved support which is provided with a more extending bearing surface on the road bed towards the axis of the track, I am enabled to entirely overcome the tendency of the support to rock or tip inwardly, and therefore there is no loosening of the support in the road bed by passing trailic. rllhe development of my support into a substantial T shape also materially aids in attaining a firmer and mere permanent positioning of the support in the road bed.

What I desire to claim is 1. In a railway track structure, individual rail supports for the opposite rails of the track, said supports being unconnected with each other and being of substantially T-shape with the head of the T disposed longitudinally beneath the rail and the stem of the T extending inwardly toward the axis of the track, the top surface of the stein of the T being at a lower level so as to be sunk in the ballast, for the purpose described.

2. In a railway track structure, individual rail supports for the opposite rails of the track, said supports being unconnected with each other and being formed of reinforced concrete and of substantially T-shape with the head of the T disposed longitudinally beneath the rail and the stem of the T extending inwardly toward the axis of the track, the top edges of the support being bevelled to obtain a letter bedding in the ballast, for the purpose described.

3. In a railway track structure, indvidual rail supports for the opposite rails of the track, said supports being unconnected with each other and being of substantially T-shape with the head of the T disposed longitudinally beneath the rail and the stein of the T extending inwardly toward the axis of the track, the top surface of the stem of the T being at a lower level so as to be sunk in the ballast, and the top edges of the support being bevelled te obtain a better bedding in the ballast, for the purpose described.

1. An individual rail support for railway rails, comprising a reinforced concrete block of substantially T-shape, the top of the T being disposed longitudinally of the rail while the stem of the T extends inwardly toward the axis of the track, and said sup-- port having embedded therein metal bars assembled to forni a frame of a shape corresponding to that of the support but of less dimensons.

Signed at Pittsburgh Pa. this 10th day of June 1925.

HARRY ETHERIDGE. 

